The President of France, Emmanuel Macron, announced the organization, at the beginning of January, in Paris, of a meeting of the leaders of the states of the so-called “Coalition of the Will”, aimed at finalizing the contribution of each country to the package of security guarantees for Ukraine.
The President of France, Emmanuel Macron/PHOTO:EPA/EFE/PHOTO:EPA/EFE
The announcement was made by the leader of the Élysée in a message published on the X platform, after a series of discussions held with the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, with the President of the United States, Donald Trump, as well as with several European leaders. According to Macron, the meeting will take place in Paris at the beginning of January.
“We are making progress on security guarantees, which will be essential to building a just and lasting peace“, emphasized the French president.
The announcement comes in the context of the intensification of diplomatic efforts related to the end of the war in Ukraine. Recently, in Florida, the negotiations between the Ukrainian and American delegations ended, after which President Zelensky announced the continuation of the talks in Washington in January. According to him, the 20-point peace plan is agreed with the American side to the extent of 90%, while the security guarantees offered by the United States would be agreed “to the extent of 100%”.
The Trump-Zelensky meeting, commented by world leaders
The meeting between Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Donald Trump was followed by a video conference with European leaders, who welcomed the progress made in the negotiations. Emmanuel Macron then reiterated the need for a meeting of the “Coalition of the Willing” to concretely establish the responsibilities of each state involved.
The President of Finland, Alexander Stubb, for his part, said that the discussions focused on concrete steps to end the war. “We are all working to achieve a just and lasting peace,” he wrote on X.
From Poland, the chancellery of President Karol Nawrocki reported that the Polish leader emphasized, during the videoconference, the firm commitment of the American president to the peace process and emphasized the key role that Poland will play after the signing of a possible agreement.
“Poland's position at the time of signing the peace agreement will be decisive. Today's discussion shows that all regional peace and security arrangements must be the result of a consensus among all interested parties. The determination of the United States and the unity of European countries offer a real chance to end the war started by the Russian Federation”the release states.
Messages of support also came from Brussels. The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, appreciated the “good progress” made and reaffirmed the European Union's readiness to continue collaboration with Ukraine and American partners. “The most important element remains the existence of solid security guarantees from day one,” she said.
Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin expressed hope that progress would lead to a ceasefire, while Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof stressed that support for Ukraine remained firm, while warning that positive signals from the US needed to be confirmed by concrete actions from Russia.
“Now Russia must demonstrate that it really wants to stop this war and that it is serious about negotiations for a just and lasting peace”Schoof relayed.
Dutch Foreign Minister David van Weel called for increased pressure on Moscow, and the head of Czech diplomacy, Jan Lipavský, described as “optimistic” the results of the talks between Zelenski and Trump, pointing out that Russia has been waging a war of aggression for more than 1,400 days.
Little progress
Despite these signals, the international press remains cautious. According to Sky News, the negotiations between Zelenskiy and Trump, held on December 28, did not bring any major progress. Correspondent Mark Stone noted that, beyond the declarations of “significant progress”, the positions of the two sides on the fundamental issues of the war remained unchanged.
However, the fact that the dialogue continues and that there has been no setback in the negotiations is considered a positive signal. At the end of the talks, US President Donald Trump said he was willing to visit Ukraine and address the Parliament in Kiev, if this could contribute to a peace agreement.
